The Devil to Pay (9 page)

“Ah.” Rianna said, moving unsteadily toward the eyesore. “My case.”

“
That
,” Daniel replied with undisguised amusement, “was delivered by Gianpiero. He didn’t take the scenic route. He took the fast one, the red company helicopter. It seemed a shame to leave it sitting in an airport hangar.”

“You didn’t have to drive for my sake.”

“I wanted to, remember? I love driving. And besides, you didn’t seem very relaxed during our transfer to the jet this morning.” Daniel moved a step closer to the bed and laid his broad, tanned hand on the top of the suitcase. “I assume it was the helicopter unsettling you, but if it was something else...?”

“No! No, not at all,” Rianna’s breath felt rough in her lungs as she stared up into the dancing blue fire of his eyes. “I was just tired, that’s all.”

And still reeling from the effects of what we did...

“I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything quite like this.” His eyebrows rose as he stared at the offending case and drummed his fingertips on the dented lid. “And I certainly don’t think it would have survived a charter flight. The handlers do tend to sling the luggage about a bit from what I’ve heard. Just imagine if it had burst en route. All your underwear in disarray—”

Rianna’s mouth opened to make a sharp and witty response, but the words died instantly as he flicked open the cheap alloy catches.

“Let’s see exactly what we’ve got in here, shall we?” Daniel flung back the lid like a customs officer and proceeded to push both hands through the neat layers of her clothing, nodding elaborately as he did so. “I thought so,” he announced.

“You thought
what
exactly!” She could feel fury burning her cheeks and wished she could put him down like a proper ice queen would. Just the once. “H-how dare you!”

Daniel allowed the lid to flop back down with a hollow thud. “I just knew it would be full of black, white, and grey.” He gestured to her grey pinstriped suit and exhaled softly, just like someone would with a cute, but naughty, puppy. “I think it’s time we put some colour into your life, don’t you?”

“What’s wrong with my clothes?” Rianna wrestled against the urge to throw something at him. “They’re professional, aren’t they? They’re clean and ironed—”

“They’re spot on for the quarry, I grant you. In fact, everything there is so dull, you could almost fade into the background, but here?” He shook his head and gestured toward the window and the myriad of hues bouncing around the harbour. “Here, everyone will mistake you for someone on her way to a wake.”

“Great.” Rianna stared at her case miserably, unable to bear his scrutiny any longer. “I’ll just stay indoors then.”

“No, you won’t.”

Rianna felt her eyes widen to saucer-shaped proportions as the weight of his large hands come to rest on her shoulders, sending a shockwave of sensual awareness through her.

“We have a week before the meeting, so...” Daniel gently tucked a stray tendril of hair behind her ear, brushing her neck with his fingertips as he withdrew. “I’m taking you shopping.”

****

Rianna made a valiant effort not to admit their table on the harbour’s edge was perfect. The spring sunshine warmed her face and made her squint a little while a light sea breeze lifted her hair and made her feel astonishingly alive. Her protestations half an hour earlier had been firmly brushed off by Daniel and her angry defiance hadn’t made an ounce of difference.

She worried she might have actually stamped her foot in her fantastic bedroom, but she couldn’t be sure. All she could remember was the ferocious pounding of her heart and the bone-melting effect of Daniel’s smile. Her right hand still buzzed as if she had been stung by a jellyfish, and she tried to suppress the pleasure that lingered since he had grabbed her by the hand and pulled her out of the bedroom. It wasn’t just her hand affected, another part of her was now highly sensitised, a secret, invisible part of her.

Rianna crossed her legs with one movement, running a slender hand along the faded jeans she had brought with her “just in case”. Daniel had suggested she dressed casually for lunch before they got on with the compulsory shopping trip. She still wrestled with her conscience on the issue of the clothes. She’d never been able to afford a fashionable wardrobe. It simply wasn’t important to her, but that didn’t make Daniel’s potential charge card binge seem morally acceptable.

She had insisted she would only accept articles that were an absolute necessity for the board meeting and the week leading up to it and they should be affordable to an ordinary person. Rianna’s budget was even more strained than the quarry’s, and even though Daniel had forbidden her from even considering buying anything herself, it still didn’t seem right he should foot the bill.

“I’m not sure if you are aware, Daniel,” Rianna trotted out in her best accountant way, “that in the UK, clothing purchased for business purposes must carry the company’s name or logo for it to be an allowable expense for tax. It may be possible to get some badges couriered over from the office—” She fell silent as Daniel burst into laughter. She had never seen him laugh like that, and its unexpected brilliance was quite astonishing.

“Oh, my dear Rianna,” Daniel chuckled as he swivelled off the white napkin around the base of a recently delivered bottle of wine. He began to pour straw-coloured liquid into her glass. “You have no idea how things work over here. Forget the tax, the expense forms and the paperwork and just listen for a moment.”

He took a quick sip of his own wine, not allowing his gaze to leave her face. “The way you look seals deals here. It’s not fair, I know that, but it is none the less a fact. You’re expected to look the part. And I’m afraid there’s no such thing as ‘affordable’ in Portofino. For
anything
. So please let me help you.” His smile faded briefly. “Would that be possible, Miss Independent? I promise it won’t hurt.”

Rianna felt her cheeks flame and she scrunched her fists in her lap with annoyance. “There’s no need to be so patronising. I’ve no choice in being independent,
but given the choice, I wouldn’t change a thing. I don’t owe a penny to anyone. I provide for myself and that’s the way I’d like it to stay. However, in this case it appears I have no room to manoeuvre. You have me in a corner and I really don’t like it.” She tore her gaze from his and stared defiantly out to sea. “I’m surprised you haven’t made some sort of wisecrack about me being a feeble, useless woman as well while you’re at it.”

“You underestimate me, Rianna. I have every respect for women, especially those achieving great things in male-dominated arenas. In my experience, it’s the women who tend to run each other down. And themselves.”

He paused as she shook her head with disbelief. He’d touched a raw nerve. “OK, I have a suggestion,” he added as she continued to stare into the distance. “I’ll have a selection of suitable things sent back to the house if you prefer. What size are you?” He frowned at her continuing silence. “Fine, leave it with me.”

Rianna tried not to cringe as she turned to see him scanning her from top to toe. Her pointed glare made no difference whatsoever.

“I can make an educated guess,” he said smoothly and ran his fingers quickly over the screen of his iPhone. “So, if it’s not shopping, we’d better move on to the next part of our itinerary: my suggested location for the board meeting. You need to be comfortable with the venue, to give yourself the best possible platform. Do you agree?”

Rianna tugged the mauve-faded-to-grey t-shirt subconsciously over her tummy so its stretched length reached unevenly over her lap, leaving a baggy line of unflattering fabric under her fingertips. He was guessing her size... It wasn’t zero that was for sure. Her thoughts scrambled for the best solution. She had two choices, tell him her precise measurements and risk an awkward phone call from the boutique of his choice saying they had nothing to offer such a lump.
Or
she could let him guess, risk having an express delivery of ill-fitting clothes, and
then
suffer the shame of sending it all back.

Either way her total humiliation was acutely imminent, so she had no choice but to give in to his shopping trip idea. At least that way she would have some control over events. She could have a discreet word with one of the sales assistants or feign a diva-like strop at the levels of service if there was nothing bigger than a UK size twelve in the place. Oh, God, she hated having to do this but... “OK. I accept what you’re saying. We shop. But within reason.”

“Within reason... Will you allow me to decide what
within reason
is?” Daniel’s grin was tinged with triumph. “I know you hate it, but in this case, I really do know best.”

Rianna clenched her teeth together before releasing them enough to mutter her reply. “I’m sure you do.”

A waiter delivered their antipasto with a flourish. The enormous plates glistened with slivers of marinated artichoke, olives, and thin slices of preserved meats, which were dressed with shreds of parmesan, capers, and lemon.

Rianna savoured her first mouthful as the flavours burst into life on her taste buds. They encapsulated the salt tang of the sea, the earthiness of the sun-baked paving stones and the passion of Italy pulsing around them. “I’m glad I let you choose from the menu for me now,” she said. “It was quite bossy of you, but this tastes fantastic.”

“
Bene
!” He looked totally relaxed and lowered his eyes. “It will sound arrogant, but I make a point of making the right choices and decisions in everything I do. I don’t like mistakes. In fact, I’ve only ever slipped up on a couple of occasions recently.” He slowly chewed on slice of salami. “Both of them related to you.”

“To me?”

Daniel nodded.

“Oh,” she replied, trying to ignore the sharp darts of awareness beginning to zing around inside her. He was making her skeleton feel like jelly with the way he rolled his tongue around the “R” of her name, and the way he kept looking at her was so intense, it was almost painful.

She had noticed a number of female heads turn and look hungrily at him, just sitting there in taupe chinos and a black t-shirt. He was so calm as well. And confident. And everything Rianna wished she could be without gargantuan effort or a brain transplant. “Can I ask how I managed to baffle you?”

“I somehow allowed myself to be misled into believing you were a thieving, unmarried mother of three children by different fathers.”

Rianna touched her fingertips to her lips with shock at his words.

“And secondly, I have never in my thirty-two years known a woman who could refuse an all expenses paid shopping spree. In fact, I’m still finding it hard to take it in.”

He’d thought such terrible things about her. No wonder he’d been so cold and aloof at the quarry! He had probably wondered how the hell he could dump her quickly enough to avoid bringing her to Italy, but of course, he had no choice in the matter at the time. Of course, she wasn’t a thief or a mother, but the clothes...

“I’m feeling quite embarrassed about the clothes issue actually.” She nodded with thanks as the waiter removed their plates. “I don’t want you buying things for me but...that doesn’t mean I won’t like them when you do.” She fiddled with the tablecloth, her eyes downcast. “You haven’t spent a penny yet, but just looking at this place and the people here, I just know they’ll be exquisite and more expensive than anything I could ever afford and—”

“And what?” His voice was soft.

“I’m not sure I can do them justice.”

Daniel ran his hands through the dark silk of his hair. “I just knew you were going to say something like that. You don’t just need colour in your life, Rianna Peters. You need to
get
a life first. Realise what it’s all about. See yourself as others do. I’m baffled. You’re beautiful, academic, professional—” He sighed heavily and to her astonishment leant across the table and took her small pale hand under the bronzed warmth of his. “Difficult, stroppy, unpredictable and the sexiest woman I’ve ever met.”

Chapter Seven

Rianna quickly pressed her lips together, realising she probably looked as bewildered as she felt, speechless at what Daniel had just said. This powerful man was going out of his way to try to make her feel good about herself. And she quite simply didn’t know how to respond.

“I’m sorry.” Daniel interrupted the thick silence. “I’ve overstepped the mark, been a little too personal. I’m Italian. I apologise.”

To Rianna’s relief, the waiter delivered the next course, a platter of white local fried fish, tomatoes and asparagus, scattered with pine nuts and herbs. She was grateful for the distraction the food provided and summoning all the composure she had left, diverted the conversation on to who had which piece of fish.

As they ate, Daniel gestured with his fork at the harbour, which was a few metres away from their table. “What do you think of the place?”

The sea was like green glass, rippling gently in the slow wake of sleek white yachts and jauntily decked tourist ferries. A church bell rang out and glasses chinked and glittered in the sunshine.

Rianna smiled. “Would it be shallow of me to say I’m dazzled by its flashbulb looks?” She laid her fork down and opened her mouth to make a joke about not even having seen the shops yet, but was suddenly startled by a female voice behind her.

“Long time, no see, Daniel,” the voice purred silkily. “Anyone would think you were trying to avoid me or something, darling.”

Rianna turned to see a perfectly manicured hand stretch out and curl around Daniel’s bare forearm. Smooth, ethereal-white fingers and blood-red nails grabbed at his bronzed skin and held on tight.

“Isabella,” Daniel replied stiffly. “I didn’t see you there.”

“Didn’t see me?” she hooted incredulously. “Not even in
this
?”

Rianna blenched as Isabella’s slender hand swept theatrically across her clinging red silk shift dress and then rose to flick back the thick, black, glossy mane of her hair. Performing for a crowd obviously came naturally to this spectacularly attractive woman and Rianna tried to shrink into the background.